Hey There, Welcome to Devolver!
We’re Allison and Mary and we started Devolver at a playdate in 2021, staring at a pile of single-use takeaway containers and thinking: there has to be a better way.
We were busy mums who loved the convenience of takeaway but couldn't shake the guilt of what it left behind. So we decided to do something about it.
Where we started.
We built a borrow-and-return container system for takeaway cafes on Sydney's Northern Beaches. The idea was simple: customers borrow a reusable stainless steel container when they order, return it to any participating venue within 14 days, and the whole thing starts again. Like a library, but for your lunch.
We partnered with local cafes in Freshwater and Manly, built two apps, designed our own containers from scratch, and launched a community pilot we called Freshie Returns. We were genuinely trying to redesign the takeaway experience from the ground up.
What we learned.
Behaviour change is hard. Single-use packaging has the privilege of existence. It's the done thing, it requires nothing from you, and it costs the planet so gradually that it's easy not to notice.
Getting enough venues, enough users, and enough return borrows to reach critical mass turned out to be a bigger hill than we anticipated. The original borrow-and-return system is winding down.
We're not embarrassed about that. We're proud of what we built and honest about what we learned. And we're still here.
Where we're going.
Everything we learned is shaping what we do next. We're focusing our energy where reuse actually works right now.
Container hire for events across Sydney. Markets, festivals, corporate catering, school and community events. Closed-loop environments where reuse is easy, visible, and genuinely impactful.
Containers available to buy. The same stainless steel containers we sourced for our reuse system, now available to own. New or used, they're built for real everyday use and a long life.
The mission hasn't changed. Reuse should be the default, not the exception. We're just finding the paths that work.
Still guided by the same values.
Sustainability has to be easy or it won't happen. Convenience isn't the enemy of doing the right thing, it's the key to it. And real change happens when systems are designed with people's actual lives in mind, not just their best intentions.
That's still what we're building toward.
